Loveless
by yesisama
Summary: AU Gender bend What happens when you're forced to marry someone you don't know because of your family's greed?
1. Chapter 1

Introduction

Nico, a second year in medical school. He's 20 years old and is the grandson of the most famous doctor of Tokyo. Despite being the grandson of one of the richest man in Japan, he learned to cook and clean since a very young age. He cut out all contact with his grandparents when his dad passed away as he blamed them for his dad's death.

He was often bullied as a child because of his height which made him not trust people.

During his last year of high school, almost like magic, he grew 9 cm more making him one of the hottest guys in school along with his best friend Eli.

Despite cutting ties with his family at a young age, he's forced to do as his grandfather says in fear he would do something to his family.

Nico Yazawa

20 years old

Black hair, crimson eyes

175 cm

Maki, a third year in high school. She's 17 years old and the daughter of the owners of Japan's most promising hospital.

She's a great pianist but despite her promising future in the field of music, she's being forced by her parents to study medicine and take over the hospital once she's old enough.

She grew up with everything one could wish for and has never had to learn to clean or cook but in exchange for that she rarely saw her parents as a child. She's used to being alone and is hard for her to trust people.

She's never been in love but that all changes when she meets Nico.

Maki Nishikino

17 years old

Scarlet hair, purple eyes

161 cm


	2. First Meeting

I don't own Love Live!

"Dad, look! " an excited little boy said as he pulled his dad shirt.

"what is it, son? " the man responded as he kneeled down to be the same height as his son.

"Nico Nico nii! " the little boy said with a love signal pose on his hands, the man looked at his son with a big grin and carried him on his arms.

" you like it, dad? "

" oh Nico -kun, I love it! Hahaha " the man said as he swing his boy around.

" every time you feel sad, I will cheer you up with this dad! " the little boy said with a big smile as he hugged his father tight.

The tall black haired man hugged him back and kissed his son's forehead.

"I love you, dad"

" I love you too, son "

 **-1 month later**

"dad... " little Nico got close to his bedded father, he bit his bottom lip preventing tears from rolling down.

"Nico-sama, your grandfather wants to see you in his office " the maid of the house announced to the little boy.

Nico nodded to the maid. He looked at his dad one more time and went to his grandfather office.

*knock knock *

"come in "

The little boy poked his head through the door and saw his grandfather reading some papers in his hands. The old man looked at him and put the papers down. " well, don't just stay there! Come in! " he demanded. The little boy jumped from fear but did as his grandfather said.

"sit down " the old man said pointing at the chair in front of his desk. Nico did as he was told and looked straight at his grandfather's eyes. Those scary purple eyes he had never liked.

"do you understand the condition your father is in? " the old man asked, Nico nodded with teary eyes.

"don't cry! " the old man yelled. "a Yazawa doesn't cry "

Nico bit his lip preventing tears from coming down and he gulped nervously.

His grandfather was someone who he had never liked.

" I know it's hard Nico-kun, but you'll eventually be the heir of the family hospital. From now on you'll be attending classes that'll help you succeed in the medical field. I'll like for you to focus your attention on them and do your best"

Nico looked at the old man in disbelief. His dad was fighting between life and death and the only thing his grandfather cared about was the hospital. The stupid hospital that caused his father to be in that bed right now.

He clenched his fist and angrily got up.

"my dad is not gonna die! " he yelled at the man in front of him, earning a slap in the face from him.

"don't talk to your grandfather like that! "

Nico held his cheek and looked down.

" your father might die and you have to accept that. You will be the successor of this family whether you like it or not, understand?!"

Nico clenched his fist again and looked up.

"no...! " little Nico said as he looked at his grandfather.

"excuse me?! " the old man said, getting up.

" I won't do it. You can't force me! My dad is like that because you've been manipulating him all this time, I won't let you do that to me! "

"why you?! " the old man got his hand up in the air and as he was about to slap the little boy again. But this one was faster and ran to the door.

"and my dad's not gonna die! " little Nico said as he left his grandfather studio.

 **-Present**

"Are you sure we're on the right place?" A certain red haired said to her brown haired friend as she looked around.

"y-yes... this is the direction Rin-kun gave me" Her friend responded.

"It looks sketchy" the red haired said as she looked around, there was nothing but dark streets, no soul around to be seen. This place was almost deserted and the outside of the building look pretty plain. The only that made it stand up was a big neon blue sign that read _the club_. Certainly she didn't like it, but she promised her friend she would accompanied her to see her boyfriend's show. She took a deep breath and looked back to her friend. " but if you're sure, let's go in"

The inside was a lot different from the outside. It was plenty colorful with a mini bar on the right side and some tables on the side. In the center there was a small dancefloor and in front of it a small stage. One could say it all looked crowded but it was actually very well organized.

"Maki-chan , here" the brown haired said as she found an open table where they could sit. The red haired followed and sat next to her table was a the closest to the stage but still pretty far considering the dance floor was in between.

A waiter appeared on their tables to ask what they'll be drinking tonight, they ordered some green tea. After all they still couldn't drink alcohol since they were still high schoolers. A few minutes passed and he was back with the drinks. He bowed and told them to enjoy the night.

"when will Rin-kun perform?" the red haired asked as she took a sip from her cup of tea.

"I think his group is next" Hanayo responded.

A few seconds passed, and the lights went down , only leaving the one on the stage on. Four guys appeared on stage. Hanayo squealed like a fan girl. Maki chuckled to see her friend like this and turned her head to where the stage was.

"Hello we are **μ's,** tonight we'll be doing a cover of the song 'perfect' by one direction. We hope you'll like it" the leader of the group said. The guys took their place and the leader nodded giving the dj the signal to start the song.

Four guys on stage , but hey all looked different from each other. A tall, muscular blond who was the one who spoke before was in the middle. On his left side there were two ginger heads. The first one was their friend, Rin, and also the smallest from the four. Next to him was a bit taller ginger head with sparkling blue eyes nobody could ignore. And last but not least on the other end there was a tall, black haired with intense crimson eyes. They were all certainly handsome but the one who caught Maki's attention was the latter one.

Two seconds passed and the melody of the song began to play.

 _I might never be your knight in shining armor_

The black haired from before was the first one to sing. Maybe it was Maki's imagination but she could swear he was looking at her, and if I may add pretty intensely at that.  
 _I might never be the one you take home to mother_  
 _And I might never be the one who brings you flowers_  
 _But I can be the one, be the one tonight._

No, it wasn't her imagination, he was looking at her. How did she know? when he realized Maki was looking back at him he got embarrassed and looked away with a small blush on his cheeks. She got embarrassed as well and looked to the blond in the middle, who was also the next one to sing.

 _When I first saw you_  
 _From across the room_  
 _I could tell that you were curious, oh, yeah_  
 _Girl, I hope you're sure_  
 _What you're looking for_  
 _'Cause I'm not good at making promises_

The next one to sing was the ginger with blue eyes.

 _But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms_  
 _And if you like having secret little rendezvous_  
 _If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn't do_  
 _Baby, I'm perfect_  
 _Baby, I'm perfect for you_

For some reason the lines he just sang seemed to describe the personality of the latter to Maki.

And last but not least the second part of the chorus was sang by their friend, Rin-kun.

 _And if you like midnight driving with the windows down_  
 _And if you like going places we can't even pronounce_  
 _If you like to do whatever you've been dreaming about_  
 _Baby, you're perfect_  
 _Baby, you're perfect_  
 _So let's start right now_

Maki turned to see her friend and saw much she was fangirling over him. Maki couldn't help but smile.

...

Rin's group was the last to perform. After having finished the song he went over to where his friend and girlfriend were sitting.

"so did you like it, nya?" he asked excitedly as he sat down next to his girlfriend.

"it was amazing, Rin-kun!" Hanayo responded with much excitement.

" you did very good" Maki replied with a warm smile.

"nya!" Rin said happily as he hugged his girlfriend.

"R-rin-kun..." Hanayo said embarrassed.

"oh let me introduce you to my group members" Rin said excitedly as he waved to his group members to come over.

The first one to come was the ginger with blue eyes. Rin got up and happily introduced him. "he's Honoka-kun"

"nice to meet you!" Honoka said happily as he bowed. " woah is this your girlfriend?" Honoka said surprised as he looked at Hanayo. "yeah, nya!" Rin replied excitedly. "she's really cute! how did you get her to date you?" Honoka said causing Hanayo to blush and Rin to slap his arm. "hey!" Rin said annoyed. "kidding, I'm kidding"

After a few seconds the black haired and blond walked over.

" This is Eli-kun, he's the leader of our group"

The blond smiled and bowed. " it's nice to meet you"

" and this" Rin said as he approached the black haired " is Nico-kun!" Rin finished as he hugged the latter. " Rin..." the black haired said as he struggled to get Rin off him. After some minutes of battling Nico was finally able to get him off him.

"pleasure to meet you" Nico said as he stared at purple eyes. Maki looked back and got lost in crimson eyes.

"guys, sit down!" Rin said, interrupting the moment Nico and Maki were sharing. Nico snapped out if and looked to his watch. " I'm sorry but I have to go, it was nice to meet you girls" Without saying further word, he left, leaving everyone behind.

"maybe he has an exam tomorrow?" Honoka said as he watched his friend leave.

"tomorrow is the weekend..."Maki replied

"oh yeah...hahaha" Honoka responded as he scratched the back of his head.

"Nico mentioned something about an important meeting tomorrow" the blond spoke this time.

 _meeting...ah!_

"I'm sorry but I have to go too" Maki said as she got up in a hurry.

"Maki-chan?" Hanayo said worriedly

" I forgot but I also have something important to do tomorrow"

"then I'll go wi-"

"no" Maki said cutting her friend off. "it's ok, I'll take a taxi. You have fun" she said with a warm smile to her friend. " it was nice to meet you all"

"bye Maki-chan!" Rin said as he waved his hand. The older boys waved their hands as well. She waved back and then left the place.

 _how could I have forgotten?...actually I should have forgotten...I don't want to meet this guy._

Maki got lost in thoughts as she rode the taxi back home.

* * *

10 am of a Saturday morning.

"nng" Maki groaned as she slowly opened up her eyes. She looked over to her watch and saw it was already late. "oh crap!" she quickly got up and went to the bathroom to get ready.

"Maki-chan" The voice of her mother from outside her door called for her. "yes?"

"Our guests are waiting downstairs, please be ready soon"

"yes, mama"

...

"I'm sorry it looks like our daughter it's taking longer than usual to get ready" a brown haired man said apologetic.

"don't worry Nishikino, one must never hurry a woman. " the old man that was sitting across from him responded, taking a sip from his cup of tea.

"Maki will join us shortly" Maki's mother said as she sat next to her husband.

 _woah she looks just like the girl from yesterday... well a much mature version...maybe even sexier...wait, what?...I shouldn't ...I mean she's gonna be my mother in law..._

"oh would you like some tea?" Maki's mother offered to the two men in front of her.

"if it wouldn't be too much trouble " the younger replied with a smile.

She got up and excused herself to the kitchen. Where she found her daughter sitting down eating tomatoes.

"Maki! " the woman called, catching her daughter's attention.

Maki had taken the stairs that connected the second floor to the kitchen and quietly hid there. Truth was, she wasn't amused she was engaged to someone she didn't know and more importantly someone she didn't love.

"today, you will meet your future husband and you're here eating tomatoes?! " the older woman said in disbelief.

"mama , I've told you before, I don't want to marry someone I don't even know! " the red haired replied with a pout, the older woman sighed and looked at her daughter with a serious look. "Maki...You won't know him if you don't at least meet him."

Maki looked down and sighed.

"Now get up. Why don't you give him the tea? " her mother suggested as she pour the tea into the cups.

"mama! " the red haired tried to complain again but was silence by her mother who placed the cups of tea in front of her. "now get up, and let's get going. They're waiting " she said mischievously.

"so tell me about you, son" the brown haired said.

"well, I'm 20 years old. And l'm on my second year of medical school the black haired replied.

"He's ahead in all his classes and will, most likely, graduated before his classmates " the old man said proudly as he patted his grandson's back. The black haired smiled and nodded.

"woah, that's really impressive "the brown haired said impressed as he took a sip from his cup.

" it's all thanks to my grandfather " the black haired replied as he looked at his grandfather.

" well, look who I found hiding in the kitchen " Mrs. Nishikino said as she entered the room with Maki by her side holding the cups of tea.

The black haired quickly turned to looked at her, and he was instantly loss for words. _no...way..._

" oh the Queen of the party has finally arrived " Mr. Nishikino said jokingly as he saw his daughter enter the room. Maki looked down feeling embarrassed not paying attention to the guests in the room. She placed the cups of tea in the coffee table and sat next to her dad.

 _didn't they teach her how to greet people? tsk_ the black haired thought as he kept looking at her.

"oh Maki, don't be shy. Introduce yourself " her father said.

She got up and looked up. She saw an old man and quickly bowed. "my name is Nishikino Maki, nice to meet you " _couldn't they at least have engaged me with someone closer to my age?_ She thought as she sat down again. Not paying attention to the man sitting next to the old one.

"Maki, this is Nico. He's an inspiring doctor and is in his second year." her dad said to her. _Nico...?that name sounds familiar..._ _Second year? He looks like he's 80 something..._

Maki looked up and saw the same old man and weakly smiled. He noticed her disappointed look and chuckled. " certainly, you don't think I'm the one you're engage to?" Maki looked at him confused and then back to her dad. " Maki, your fiancé is sitting next to Mr. Yazawa " her dad said pointing on the black haired's direction. Maki looked back to where the old man was sitting and realized there was someone sitting next to him. _Woah, am I that easy to ignore_ Nico thought as he kept looking at her.

He got up and bowed to her. " Yazawa Nico. Nice to meet you " he said with a smile making the latter blush.

Maki's mother lightly pinched her daughter's tight, making Maki get up and face Nico.

She looked at him and gulped. She scanned him head to toe and blush from how handsome he was. She notice how short the distance between them was and blushed harder.

She lightly bowed her head.

She looked up again met crimson eyes staring back at hers.The same crimson eyes from last night.

"l-likewise "

 **A.N**

Hello guys. Here I am with something different.

About the other story, don't worry I won't leave it. I just have a writer's block and don't know how to continue next.

This story is different and I know it might be a bit confusing now.

It'll contain a lot of flashbacks from Nico's past. And it will mostly be angst. Yet I still hope you'll like it.

Oh I noticed that on the introduction it first says that Nico's age is 20 and then 19. I thought I fixed it but it still shows it like that. But for no confusions , Nico's is 20. Making him 3 years older than Maki. Anyways.

I'll leave for now. And thanks for reading ^^


	3. New Feelings

**I don't own Love Live!**

* * *

 _It can't be...can it...?_

Maki felt confused and disoriented. Is it really the same guy she met yesterday?

One hour had passed by since their first exchange of words, for the majority of the time her parents and the black haired's grandfather had done most of the talking.

The black haired remained quiet and would nod from time to time and occasionally say a "yes, sir" or a simple "no"

His aura was too mysterious for her to figure out but some reason she felt oddly attracted to it.

"when will the wedding take place?" suddenly the words of the older man seemed to bring Maki back to earth.

"uueeh..?!" Maki said in surprised

 _already?! We just met like an hour ago_

She looked over to her mom for help but this one had nothing but a stupid grin on her as she stared on the black haired in front of them. She sighed feeling hopeless and turned to her father looking for an answer.

"we would like for it to be as soon as possible" her father responded leaving her more speechless than before.

"ueeh?!"

She looked over to the black haired and saw his surprised expression as well. At least she wasn't the only one that all of this was too sudden.

"if I may speak" the black haired said , making everyone turn to see him. "I think giving Nishikino-san" he turned to see her for a bit and then back to her parents. "a wedding to worry about, would be too much for her. Isn't she on her last year of high school?" he took a small pause to see their reactions. "university exams are coming, not to mention the ones she already has to take for the high school. Also, we don't really know anything about each other..."

Maki's dad hummed as he thought of the words of the black haired. Maki was rather surprised at how considerate he sounded, but thankful inside for speaking up.

"alright!" the brown haired man said. " A year from now, then it is" _A year?!_ Maki thought as she hopelessly stared at her dad. "well a year it's not too bad, and it gives plenty of time to organize it and for them to know each other" Nico's grandfather said as he agreed with the brown haired man. The mom nodded happily and smile to the black haired who respectfully returned the smile.

The two older men got up and shook hands, making the engagement official. Well, among them.

* * *

 _I can't believe this is happening_ Maki glanced over to the black haired next to her and sighed. _He could at least say something..._

After agreeing on a date and making plans to organize a wedding in a year. Maki's mother suggested her daughter and her soon to be son-in-law should have a date in order to get to know each other a little better. Both Maki and the black haired tried to refused but Nico's grandfather agreed, pretty much obligating the black haired to accept. As for Maki, her mom was too persuasive and she ended up accepting.

It had been around 10 mins since then. There was really nothing going on, they were just walking silently beside each other. It was rather awkward and uncomfortable to bare the silence but none of them dare to talk first.

 _Well not like I want him to talk or anything..._

"so what are your hobbies?" the black haired asked

"eh?.." was all that Maki said as she was caught off guard.

Nico chuckled a bit.

"don't laugh!" Maki yelled but this only caused Nico to chuckle harder

"sorry, anyways. Your hobbies?" he repeated as he calmed down.

"I like to play the piano..."

Nico hummed and gently smiled.

None of them said anything afterwards bringing once again the silence from before.

 _Maybe I should try to talk this time...?_

"for how long have you known Rin?" _really Maki?_ It's not like she didn't want to get to the black haired , but this was the first thing that came to her mind.

 _Rin? Does she like him? But he has a girlfriend_...

"hmm Rin...? Like 5 years..." he closed his eyes as he tried to remember. "yeah something like that" he opened them again and smiled.

 _His smile is nice..._

"Do you want to sit down?" he offered.

They had walked far enough and reached a park. She nodded and sat on a bench close to the small fountain in the middle of the park.

She looked around and all she saw was couples walking around holding hands, hugging or kissing. _That's what couples do...I see this all the time but why do I feel like this now? Am I gonna do that with him...?_ She took a small glance at the black haired, this one met eyes with her and smiled. She quickly looked away, feeling a small blush on her cheeks, she shook her head trying to brush it off.

She looked at him again and notice how he was happily watching a group of small kids playing.

"do you like kids?" Maki asked. The black haired nodded.

"Say Nishikino-san, what did you ask Santa this year?"

"eh?" Maki said confused

"that must be your favorite word" the black haired said sarcastically. He took a short pause but continue talking soon after. "it probably wasn't a husband or a boyfriend"

Maki looked at him confused. He turned to see her and stared at her for a bit. "what are you talking about?" Maki asked.

"What I'm trying to say is... you probably don't want to marry me."

Maki looked at him and saw a serious face. He smirked and got up stretching his body.

"well you probably do"

"ehh?" Maki was dumbfounded.

"I mean who wouldn't want to marry me? I'm tall, talented and handsome. Any girl would be lucky to even spend a minute with me"

"gross" was all that Maki said.

"gross?!" the black haired said feeling insulted. "I'll have you know that every member of Muse has a their own fan club and mine is the biggest one!" he said feeling proud.

"why do you think I care?" the red haired replied disinterested, twirling a piece of her hair.

"I'm just letting you know how lucky you are that you caught the great Yazawa Nico!"

"disgusting..." She replied rolling her eyes.

Nico sighed.

"where I'm going with this is...you probably don't want to marry someone you just met and more importantly...someone you don't love" he weakly smiled and sat down again.

"..."

"I'll do as I'm told because I have to ...but" he looked at her seriously " if you don't want to marry me, I'll help you get out of this engagement."

 _it hasn't even been more than an hour and he's already telling me he'll help me get out of this if i don't want to marry him?...could it be he likes someone but his grandfather didn't approve of her...? or maybe he's gay...?_

"oh!" Nico said as he looked at the sky. "it looks like it's gonna rain" he said as he heard thunder coming. Maki felt drops on her shoulder and looked up to see scary dark clouds.

"I should get you home"

Maki nodded and walked along with him silently for the next 10 mins. She kept thinking of the words he had just said to her and try to analyze them.

"well, I should go home now. Goodbye" Maki looked at him and nodded. Nico bowed and left her standing alone in front of her white porch.

* * *

Two days passed and it was now Monday morning. She was sitting in class waiting for class to finish. She kept thinking about the words the black haired had said to her and try to find the reason why he said them but not matter how much she thought about it she couldn't come with a reason as to why he would say that. Even if she didn't want to admit it, it bothered her how he didn't even try to give her a chance to fall in love with her. _Not like I care...he could be handsome but he's very arrogant! ...wait did I just think he's handsome?! He's not! Not at all...maybe just a bit..._

She kept arguing with her inner self until a voice brought her back to reality. "Maki-chan"

Maki looked up and saw her brown haired friend looking at her. "Maki-chan, is everything ok?" the brown haired asked worriedly. Maki nodded. "yeah, it's nothing"

"are you sure? You know you can trust me"

Maki looked around and realized there weren't many students in the room. Actually the majority were packing their things and getting ready to go home.

"where's everyone?" Maki asked as she kept looking around.

The brown haired looked at her friend confused. "Maki-chan..."

The red haired turned to see her friend with a puzzle look. "yeah?"

"it's the last day before our christmas break. You're always excited...are you sure everything's ok?"

Maki looked at her friend and sighed.

"eh?! You're engaged?!" the brown haired said exalted.

Maki gained a small blushed on her cheeks. She simply nodded and waited for her friend to calm down.

"who is it?! When ? What?! Wait, you're only 17!" Her friend kept throwing questions at her without letting her answer or calming down for that matter.

"Hanayo, please calm down..." Maki pleaded as she took a sip of her tea.

"R-right..." Hanayo said as she took a deep breath.

"w-who is it? Do I know him?"

Maki hesitated but gave a small nod to her friend. The brown haired's eyes widened.

"really?! Who is it?!" Hanayo asked excitedly as she stared deeply at her friend.

"Rin's group mate..."

"eh?!...wait, which one?!"

"Hanayo, calm down!"

"I'm sorry..."Hanayo said with a sappy face, this made Maki feel bad.

"no...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled"

Hanayo smiled, and this time she calmly asked. "who's the lucky guy, Maki-chan?"

Maki took a deep breath. "The black haired, with crimson eyes..."

Hanayo looked at her with a surprised look. "Nico-kun?!" Hanayo took a sip from her tea to calm down. "that's actually a big surprise, I thought he..." she stopped and looked over to Maki, this one had a very curious face and leaned in closer towards Hanayo. "you thought he...?" Maki repeated as she leaned in closer.

"nothing, never mind." Hanayo said nervously. Maki tried to speak again but was silence by her friend who spoke again. "when did you two get engaged? Maki leaned back to her chair and sighed. "well, our parents made an agreement when we were younger but it was officially made this past Saturday, but it's strange."

"what do you mean strange?" Hanayo asked.

"he acts different when his grandfather is around. Like a robot, I could say"

Hanayo looked down and unconsciously nodded.

Maki saw her reaction and leaned in close. "you know? Do you know why? ...Do you know Nico-kun?"

Hanayo felt cornered, she gently pushed Maki back and weakly smiled. "I met Nico-kun a long time ago."

Maki looked at her confused, waiting for her to explain a little more.

"One day after school, I had cleaning duty that day and for some reason or another I stayed back really late, when I went home it was very late and there was almost no one around. I was scared and tried to take the quickest way home but I was so nervous I couldn't think straight. I heard footsteps approaching and got scared I started to run but the footsteps quickly caught up to me. I was cornered by 3 guys and felt like crying. I screamed for helped but no one came." Hanayo took a small pause to see the look on her friend's face. Maki looked rather sad and worried but gave her a small nod indicating her to continue.

"one of the guys got close to me and tried to kiss me, I closed my eyes tightly and waited for the unwanted to happen. I waited but nothing happened. I opened an eye slowly and saw 2 of the guys running away and the one who tried to kiss me before on the floor crying. I looked around and saw a black haired with a bat on his hands gasping loudly. He turned to see me and asked if I was ok. I nodded and he smiled. He offered to take me home and we've been friends since."

Hanayo finished her story and looked at Maki who seemed really surprised. "that was Yazawa-kun?"

Hanayo nodded and smiled. "He was really skinny back then, I wouldn't have thought he could have made a guy cried." she said with a small giggle.

"when did this happened?" Maki asked.

"3 years ago. When we were in middle school, he was a senior in high school. Nico-kun was wearing his baseball uniform, he looked really cool" Hanayo blushed lightly.

Maki unconsciously tighten her fist and felt angry. "Do you like him?" Maki asked with a scary aura surrounding her.

Hanayo shook her head and chuckled. " If I did, I wouldn't be dating Rin-kun."

Maki felt relived and let go of her fist.

"though, I did have a crush on him for a long time." Hanayo spoke again and made Maki feel irritated.

"A-anyways" Maki said trying to change the subject. "why did you agree when I said he acts like a robot when he's around his grandfather?"

Hanayo felt flustered. "I-i...Maki-chan, you should find that out yourself" Hanayo said as she got up.

"I'm sorry, but I promised Rin-kun I would spend the evening with him, Goodbye!" and with that Hanayo left the café where they were at, leaving a confused red haired alone.

* * *

Wednesday morning, 24th of Dec.

Maki tried to avoid thinking about Nico and focused on her favorite holiday, which happened to be christmas. It was a tradition for her and her family to go to their house in the mountains and spend christmas there but this time there was a little problem.

"but mama!" Maki complained as her mother grabbed her suitcase.

"I'm sorry, Maki. This was a very last minute event, but you know just how much your father has been waiting to make business with this doctor."

Maki puffed her cheeks showing displease.

"aww c'mon" her mom said pinching her left cheek. "you can always come~"

Maki cross her arms and turned around. "you know how bored I get at those events."

"honey, hurry we gotta go!" Maki's father said as he entered the living room in a hurry.

"papa!"

"oh Maki, sorry honey. I promise we'll make it up to you when we get back." her father gently kissed her forehead and grabbed her mom's hand leaving the house in a hurry.

* * *

Was business really more important than spending time with their family on christmas? Maki wondered and felt a bit depressed. At times like this she really hated having a big house, there was no even maids around since they would usually get these days off.

The house felt completely empty and lonely. Maki didn't want to spend christmas alone but she also didn't know who to call.

In Japan christmas was celebrated like a second valentine's and she was sure Rin and Hanayo would spend it together. And she certainly didn't want to be the third wheel.

She decided to go to the market to look for something quick to make, since she had no idea how to cook.

She walked around the market thinking of something that would be easy to cook, but nothing really came to her mind. Cooking wasn't one of her strengths and at times like this she really wished she would spend more time with the maids when they're cooking.

She stooped in front of the tomatoes and decided that she could at least eat some fresh tomatoes.

"ouch.." Maki looked down and saw a kid on the floor in front of her. "you okay?" Maki asked as she kneeled down. "my knee hurts..."

"Kotaro!"

Maki looked up and saw a familiar black haired running worriedly towards the kid. "Kotaro-kun, are you ok? Are you hurt?" the black haired looked at the kid worriedly looking for scratches, but found none.

"I'm fine, this pretty nee-chan was helping" the kid responded making the black haired look up.

His face changed in an instant, he didn't think he would find her there. "Ni..Nishikino-san?"

Maki was just as surprised but didn't say anything. _Y-yazawa-kun...so this is what I get for trying to avoid him..._

" you know her, nii-chan?"

 _nii-chan?!_

"yeah...she's -"

"oh Nico, here you are"

Maki looked up and saw a woman standing behind Nico. She was medium height, with a really pretty figure. Black short hair and crimson eyes just like Nico's. She was a very pretty woman.

 _Could this be..._

"mama!" the little kid yelled as he ran towards his mom.

"what is it, hun?"

 _his wife...? does he have a secret wife?!_

"Nico, let's go Cocoro and Cocoa are waiting in line" _no...they look too alike...maybe an older sister? But I thought he was an only son_...

"oh who might you be?" The woman said as she looked at Maki's direction.

Maki felt flustered and weakly smiled. "I'm Nishikino Maki" the red haired said trying not to sound nervous but Nico could tell how she felt.

"Nishikino...Nishikino..." the woman kept repeating her last name as she scratched her head "oh! Are you the daughter of Nishikino Ryuu?" the woman asked curiously.

Maki sighed. She was used to people bringing up her dad first as soon as she told them their name. But she expected to at least avoid that for some time. She mentally prepared herself for the questions that often followed regarding her dad to come and gave the older woman a nod.

"so that means, you're my precious Nico-kun's fiancé?" the woman asked excitedly as she leaned closer to the girl.

Maki blushed and took a step back. "it's nice to meet you!" the woman got close to Maki and hugged her tightly.

Nico stood there unsure of what to do and just stared at his mom.

The woman let go of the hug soon after and smiled. "oh I'm sorry, I haven't properly introduced myself."

Maki looked at her unsure of what to expect.

"I'm Yazawa Mei, I'm Nico's mother. It's nice to meet you!"

 **A.N**

Hey guys^^

so Maki met Nico's mom , I wonder what will happen next, maybe she'll spend christmas with Nico and his family? I don't know hehehe

And Hanayo had a crush on Nico. Maybe we'll find out more about their story later?

Anyways, thanks for reading and Merry Xmas! ^^


	4. Christmas' Eve

A.N.

I'm sorry I took so long to update. College started again and well I just had a lot to do ^^; sorry, anyways please enjoy and thanks for reading ^^.

Disclaimer: I don't own Love live!

* * *

"I'm Yazawa Mei, I'm Nico's mother. It's nice to meet you!"

"ueehh?!" Maki's eyes widened and jaw dropped. She took a quick glimpse at the black haired and then looked back to the mother.

 _He looks just like her_

"it-it's nice to meet you!" the red haired quickly bowed. Nico's mother chuckled.

"tell me, Maki-chan. Have you eaten?" the older woman asked nicely. Nico stood behind his mother holding his younger brother's hand. He knew what was coming and even if he wanted to oppose he knew his mom would get her way. She always did.

"ah.. m-me?" Maki was too nervous for her own good. The older woman smirked and nodded.

 _I want to say no...but I'm actually really hungry... ugh! I'll just go home and make a sandwich or something..._

"well, I-"

*growl*

Nico's mother chuckled and took that as a no.

"if you don't have anything already plan, join us for dinner" she smiled. " I'm going to pay for the groceries. Cotaro-kun, come with me." the younger boy let go of his older brother's hand and went to his mom's side. "Nico, you wait for her."

"but mama...!" the black haired complaint.

The older woman shot a death glare at him and he gulped. "ye-yes ma'am"

"good boy. I hope you decide to join us, Maki-chan" and without saying futher word she left leaving Nico and Maki alone.

"I think I'll pass"

Nico looked at her confused.

"did you already have plans?" Nico asked curiously

"why do you care" Maki replied instanly, regretting soon enough.

"huh...?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"...I don't have any plans, I'm just not hungry."

 ***** Growl *****

Nico heard Maki's stomach growled again and looked at her in disbelief.

"it's just a meal."

"ehh?" Maki asked confused.

"it's just a meal, and you're clearly hungry. Besides..." he looked down to her hands and caressed them, the red haired blushed. "wh-what are you-"

"your hands are too soft. I don't think you've ever cooked a meal in your life."

"who says I can't cook?" Maki said putting his hands away from the black haired.

Nico smirked. "well, can you?

Maki remained quiet and looked down.

Nico took a step closer to her and grab her hand, holding it tight this time, causing Maki to blush, once again.

"wh-what are you doing?!" she asked exalted.

"Isn't it obvious?" he smiled. " Nishikino-san, you wouldn't want to get on your future mother-in-law's bad side, would you?" he asked jokingly.

Maki blush harder from his comment.

 _Mo-mo-mother-in-law?!_

"..."

The black haired took a quick glimpse at her and chuckled.

 _warm..._

* * *

Mrs. Yazawa smiled at the sight of Nico and Maki holding hands while walking towards her.

"who is she?" one of the younger sisters of Nico asked.

"that's your future sister" replied content.

* * *

The drive back was rather awkward for Maki. She seated in the back between Nico's younger sisters. Cocoro, the 13 year old black haired, and Cocoa the 11 year old brunnette.

Cocoa immediately attacked the red haied with questions as soon as she got in the van. Maki prayed Nico would somehow saved her but he was driving and wasn't paying much attention at what was happening in the back of the car. For Maki's luck, Cocoro, would from time to time tell her sister to chill on the questions and let Maki breathe.

Maki felt overwhelmed but she didn't mind it. She grew up without siblings so experiencing this for the first time wasn't so bad.

Nico drove for about an hr and reached their destination. He parked the car and opened the doors of it.

The first one to get out was Cotaro who ran to the door opening with the keys his mom gave to him.

Cocoro and Cocoa grabbed a few groceries bag and then walked inside, did the same and walked inside the house.

Maki got out later and stared at the house in front of her eyes.

The Yazawas' residence was a lot smaller than what Maki was expecting. At least for someone who is the grandson of the famous Doctor Yazawa.

There were often articles written about how wealthy the Yazawa family was so for her to see a house smaller than hers, certainly surprised her.

The house consisted of 2 floors with big windows, white on the outside with a small yard on the front and a fence around it. A chimney on the left side and a big tree in the front.

 _I thought it'd be..._

"bigger" the black haired comment.

"huh?" the red haired turned to see him with a confused look.

"you were probably thinking that our house would be bigger, right?"

 _spot on!_

Maki felt embarrassed and nodded her head.

" C'mon, it's cold outside."

Nico said as he grabbed the last bag of groceries and locked the car. Maki followed along without making a comment.

* * *

The red haired sat on the living room with the black haired's mother. The two sisters were playing a video game with the younger one, and as for the black haired, he was in the kicthen preparing dinner.

Maki felt nervous, she asked herlsef if this is how the black haired felt when he met her parents. She remembered all the times her mother would try to tell her something about her fiance and about how she would always avoid the subjet or excuse herself saying she had better things to do.

She wondered if the black haired knew anything about her too.

"so" the older woman said, bringing Maki back to earth.

"you're a high school student, right?"

Maki nodded.

"Maki-chan, you're too young. Are you ok with getting married at such young age?" the older woman asked a bit concerned.

Maki's eyes widened. She didn't expect this. For the first time somebody asked her if she was ok with getting married. The first time someone asked her opinion about the matter in general.

Her mother would usually tell her things trying to convince her this was for the best and though she knew her mother cared for her, she felt a lot more care from the black haired's mother.

 _Am I ok with this? ...well, I..._

Had you ask Maki a week ago she would've probably said no, but now she had interest in the black haired, she wasn't quite sure what it was but she wanted to find out. So was she ok with this?

 _I should say no...but I guess I'm ok with it now_

"of course Maki nee-chan is ok with getting married!" Cocoa said causing Maki to blush and her mother to look at her with a puzzled look.

 _Nee-chan?!_

"and why's that, Cocoa?" the mother asked.

"because she's marrying our amazing nii-chan!" the girl said excitedly causing her mother to laugh.

 _They really love him._

"dinner's ready" the black haired announced.

The mother ordered the 3 younger ones to wash their hands and they nodded in agreement.

Maki got up from the couch and slowly made her way to the dining room. As she walked around the house she noticed a picture of the whole family on top of a small table where a lamp was sitting on.

She hold it in her hands and examined it throughly. Nico must've been around 11 whent he picture was taken. Cocoro around 4 and Cocoa 2. Cotaru wasn't in the picture but Maki noticed that Mrs. Yazawa was pregnant in the picture.

, Nico's dad was quite the handsome guy but he didn't really look like Nico, the black haired resembled his mother more.

 _He's the only with green eyes, yet they all got crimson eyes like their mother...funny_

"what are you doing?"

Maki was startled and jumped a bit. She turned around and saw the black haired in a pink apron next to her.

Maki blushed from how close he was and looked down.

He looked at her and then a the picture she was holding.

"oh..." was the only thing he said. He turned around and placed the plates full of food on the table.

Maki looked at him confused but decided not to say anything.

Soon enough the three younger ones entered the dinning room with their mother.

It was a round table and Maki wasn't really sure of where to seat.

The three little ones sat first followed by Mrs Yazawa. Leaving only two seats open. Nico sat down first.

"Maki-chan, please sit. The food will get cold" said lovingly. Maki blushed and nodded next to the black haired.

They thanked for the food and started eating.

"this is really good" Maki said in almost a whisper but loud enough for the black haired to hear.

"of course it is! I made it" he said proudly.

Maki looked at him annoyed and the mother laughed.

The dinner went rather smoothly. The mother told Maki embarrassing stories of Nico and Maki couldn't help but laugh. Nico tried to complaint but was silence by his mother death glare.

"what school do you go to Nee-chan?" Cotaru asked.

Truth was Cocoa had already asked her this but Cotaru had fallen asleep on the way back and didn't hear any of her sister's questionare.

"otonokizaka" the red haired replied.

"so you and nii-chan when to the same school"

Maki's eyes widened. _We did?..._

Nico nodded.

"you guys are 3 years apart so you didn't go to school during the same time. That's probably why you don't remember him" the mother commented.

"Nii-chan was the captain of the school baseball club" Cocoa said this time.

Maki looked at him surprised, the black haired looked back and nodded.

"do you play any sports, nee-chan?" Cotaru asked.

The red haired turned to see him and shook her head. "I'm the vicepresident of the school."

"oh.." was all the little boy responded. "so you know Nozomi nee-chan?"

"Nozomi...?"

"No, Nozomi, Eli and I didn't go to school during the same time as her" Nico responded.

"ah Nozomi nee-chan is so nice! when will she come visit us again nii-chan?" this time Cocoa asked.

 _Nozomi nee-chan...? why does this bother me_

"well she's busy, but I'll tell her to come" the black haired said as he took a sip from his cup.

 _calm down Maki, it's obvious he would have more friends...even female friends..._

"well enough talking." said .

"you guys know the rules if your brother cooks then..."

"we'll wash the dishes" the two girls finished the sentence.

"that's right, Nico why don't you show Maki the house" said as she got up.

The black haired looked at the red haired and then back to his mom. He knew what his mother was doing. "of course." He got up and the red haired followed.

* * *

"Well you've seen the living and dining room as well as the kitchen." he walked down the hall from the living room and opened the first door on the right. "this was papa's studio. Now we just use it as a small library" Maki looked at him and nodded.

"your father was a doctor, right?" the red haired asked.

The black haired nodded and smiled. "papa was the best doctor Japan has yet to see." the black haired said proudly. The red haired chuckled and smiled.

They got out of that room and went to the one in front of the latter.

The room was pretty much empty, there was nothing but a white grand piano in the middle of it. Maki looked surprised and walked towards it. She examined and noticed it was a rare but extremely good piano. _The Steinway & Sons Model D ... the "Concert Grand" this is an extemely good piano!_

The black haired noticed Maki's facial expressions and internally laugh.

"would you like to play it?" he asked, bringing Maki back to earth.

"eh?"

The black haired pointed at the piano with his eyes. "me?" the red haired asked surprised.

"I don't see anyone else here."

He sat on the seat and took a deep breath. He placed his hands on the white and black keys and began to play a soft melody. He closed his eyes and let the music flow through him.

Maki inmedaitely recognized the piece and looked at him with an amazed look. "Claire de lune"

He opened his eyes and nodded. He continued on playing as with his head he indicated her to sit next to him and play.

The red haired did as she was asked, and followed along with him. She was truly surprised at how good he was, even though this piece wasn't really too hard. She didn't expect he would know how to play.

The continued to play for about 3 more minutes until the black haired sighed and stopped. Maki stopped as well and stared at him.

He remained quiet and looked straight into the piano keys.

"My dad played piano... He tried to teach me too, but... my hands were too small then and I couldn't reach all the keys, I gave up and never tried to play again...He would always play this piece for me when my mind was unsettled. It never failed to calm me down. Papa often seemed stressed and I wished I could've play this for him as well but back then it was impossible... As I got older my hands grew longer and I was finally able to reach the keys...but papa was no longer there..."

The black haired let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Maki didn't know what to do or say. She wanted to asked him how his dad had died, but it was too imprudent? she wanted to hug him and say _"I'm sorry"_ , but they weren't really that close. The truth was she really had a lot to say but at the same time nothing to say. In the end no words came out of her mouth and she sighed in dissapointment.

The black haired got up and saw the time in the clock that was on the wall. _21:45_ .

Maki got up as well and saw the time too. "when did it get this late..!?" She got out of the room and went to the living room looking for her scarf and purse. "I should get going." she said as she put her jacket on.

Nico was standing next to the stairs looking at her.

"I don't think you should leave tonight, Maki-chan" said as she entered the living room.

Maki looked back with a confused look. "I'm sorry...?"

"it's really windy and it's snowing hard right now. It's not safe."she finished.

Maki didn't know what to say. _is she telling me to stay...? if so where am I gonna sleep...with Nico?!_

The red haired walked towards the closest window and looked outside. Just like she had said it was snowing pretty hard outside, it made it hard to see anything beyond the fence.

"will your parents be ok with you spending the night here?" asked.

"eh...? ah! ...my parents are on a business trip right now..."

"so there won't be any issue with you staying here, right?" Mrs. Yazawa said as a grin formed in her lips.

"I don't know..."

The older woman looked at the red haired and sighed " well, I won't insist. If you want to stay you're more than welcomed to. But if you decide to leave, at least wait until the storm passes. Nico'll take you home, right?" She looked over to her son and the latter nodded.

"now, If you'll excuse me. I'm pretty tired myself and I want to rest. Good night Maki-chan" the red haired bowed and smiled. "good night, son." kissed her son's cheek and went up the stairs to her room.

The red haired looked at Nico and then back to the window.

" do you think it'll stop snowing soon?" she asked as she continued to look outside the window.

"just stay." he said.

She looked back and question him with her eyes.

"even if it stops snowing soon, chances are the roads are very dangerous to drive on. Maki-chan you don't live exactly close and I don't think you'll like to walk in this cold weather."

Maki let out a sigh in defeat and nodded.

"where would I sleep...?" she asked cautiously feeling nervous about the upcoming answer.

"follow me" the black haired responded as he went upstairs to his room. Maki followed behind, she observe the black haired's physic and noticed how well built he was. _He's not really tall...maybe aroun 175cm...but he has a really good slender body and that makes him look taller._ In that instant she remembered when Hanayo told her that at one point she had a crush on the black and Maki felt annoyed.

He walked towards the last room on the left and opened the door to what was his room. "you can sleep here"

The red haired got in and examined the room. Light red walls, one could say they were almost pink. A queen size bed on the right with a nightstand and a lamp on top next to it. An unorganized desk on the left side with a small bookcase by its side. A few drawers by the walls along with a clock on the center of it. She noticed the guitar that was between his nightstand and the desk but decided to not make a comment about it. She turned back to see him. "where would you sleep?"

"oh could it be you want me to sleep with you?" the black haired asked teasing.

"of course not!" the red haired responded embarrassed.

"hahaha" he laughed. "I'll sleep in the living room, don't worry about it. You can wear my clothes if you'd like and there's some extra toothbrushes on the bathroom which is this door" he pointed at the door next to the one he had opened. "I'll let you rest, if you need anything just ask" he smiled and left the room.

Maki laid in bed and throughly thought about these past days had been like. _I met him just a few days ago and I'm already sleeping on his bed...wait that sounded wrong! that's not what I meant to say...ahhh! whatever..._ She let out a sight as she got up again and saw the clock on the wall. _23:08_.

 _it's already been an hour..?_ She got up and opened the drawers to find for some clothes. She opened the one on top first but shot it almost inmmediately when she saw the contents inside. His underwear. She felt a small blush coming but decided to ignore it for now. She opened the second drawer and found t-shirts and shorts. She grabbed a shirt with white and red stripes on it, it sorted looked a like baseball shirt but without the buttons. She grabbed the first black shorts she saw and directed herself towards the bathroom. She undressed and put the black haired's clothes on. She found a new toothbrush on the cabinet and brushed her teeth. She folded her clothes and went back to the room.

She looked back at the clock again. _23:35_. _it'll soon be christmas._ She thought as she sat on the bed again. She looked over to the nightstand and found a picture. She grabbed and looked at it. _this must've when he was in high school_ she thought as she recognized the buildings behind. On the picture Nico was with a group of friends. It looked like they were celebrating something as they all looked so cheerful. "oh! isn't he...Eli?" Maki said recognizing the blond that was next to Nico. They both were on their baseball uniforms smiling widely. There were 4 unfamiliar faces she didn't recognize. A purple haired, esmerald eyes in between the blond and Nico. A short brown haired girl with green eyes hugging Nico. Something that irked the red haired. A tall brown haired guy with purple eyes on the side of the latter and a tall purple haired by his side. They all looked very happy.

Maki stared at the picture for a few more minutes and realized that the shirt she was wearing was the same one the brown haired girl on the picture was too. She got up and quickly looked in the mirror and realized it was Nico's warm up shirt. On the back it read Yazawa and the number 7 under it. She felt jealous but at the same time she felt curious as to why she was wearing Nico's jersey.

She kept telling herself it didn't matter since they didn't know each other then and just to forget about it. But her mind kept playing her tricks and she was unable to stop thinking about it. She felt overwhelmed and decided to go downstairs for a cup of water.

She walked down the stairs and saw the black haired with his laptop out sitting on the couch. She didn't want to call his attention and so she decided to be as quiet as possible, but for her luck, destiny played another card and as soon as she made the next step a creak on the floor was heard and the black haired turned around to see her standing there.

"can't sleep?" he asked calmly.

The red haired nodded and she tried to walk away. "I just came to get some water" she replied.

"I see."

He turned back again to face his laptop.

The red haired sighed and went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

A few seconds passed and Nico entered the kitchen as well. He was wearing gray sweatpants with a blue hoddie.

He walked towards the fridge and grabbed a bottled water. "do you like stargazing, Nishikino-san?"

 _where did this question come from..._ "yeah.."

"I heard tonight we should have a pretty clear view of the sky. Wanna check it out?" he asked a he took a sip from his bottle of water.

Maki raised an eyebrow and looked at him confused. "come" he said as he grabbed her hand and led her towards the balcony on the second floor.

Maki blushed but didn't refused or said anything trying to stop him. Once they reached it , Nico let go of her hand and looked up the sky. " look" The red haired raised her head and felt captivated by the sky's beauty. Winter was one of her favorite seasons not only because of christmas but also because they sky, in her opinon, looked much prettier.

Nico leaned agaisnt the rails as he looked up. Maki took a spot by his side and looked up as well. "pretty" she whispered. The black haired turned to see her and smiled. He noticed she was shivering and saw that she was only wearing a shirt and shorts. He sighed and took off his hoddie. Maki looked at him and saw how his undershirt lifted up a bit when he was taking his hoddie off, she blushed at the sight of his pinks boxers and noticed a scar by the adominal area. She tried to see a bit more but his shirt had come down already.

"here" the black haired said as he handed her his hoddie. Maki looked at him, asking him if he was really sure. He nodded and she proceeded to put it on. She felt much warmer now and somehow happy. They stood next to each other looking up at the stary sky. _this is nice._

*ding*

The watch on the black haired's rang announcing that a new day had begun, but it wasn't just any day. It was Christmas day. He looked over to the red haired and whispered "Merry Christmas" She felt a blush coming from the closeness they were sharing and smiled.

 _Nishikino-san, what did you ask Santa to get you this year? It probably wasn't a boyfriend or a husband at that_

She remembered clearly the words of the black haired and smiled more. She wrapped her arms around him and hug the latter provoking this time for him to blush. _I probably didn't but now that I think about it...it doesn't sound so bad._


	5. Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own love live!

00:10 am

The red haired was in the bathroom, she couldn't believe what she had done. _Why I did hug him out of nowhere?! Am I crazy?_ She keptlooking at herself in the mirror splashing water to it as she shook her head. It's been only a couple of days since they met but had she already develop feelings for him? She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of anything, this feeling was new to her. She took a deep breath and decided it was time to go out.

She slowly opened the white bathroom door and silently stepped out. The hall was dark, the only thing giving her a bit of light was the dim white light that came out of the black haired's laptop. She didn't know if he could face him right now but she needed to pass by him in order to get upstairs. _Why did I ran to the bathroom downstairs?!_ She cursed herself at her poor decisions. She knew there was no way around it, unless there were some type of secret stairs that led upstairs that she didn't know of.

Quietly stepping one foot after the other she reached the wall closest to where the black haired was. He didn't notice her, actually he wasn't paying to anything that wasn't his laptop. _What is he doing_ she wondered as she got closer. _Is he doing a paper for school? But its winter break…_ she told herself she wouldn't mind him and go for the stairs and then straight to the room, but her curiosity betrayed her and when she got close to him she asked. "What are you doing?" The black haired turned his head and slightly blushed. He remembered what happened a few minutes ago and couldn't help it.

He cleared his throat and looked back at the screen "you know our group U's?" the red haired nodded indicating him to continue " well, we have a live today and…" he paused, the red haired was confused "and…?"

"well, we were planning to play as a band and Eli and I were going to be in charge of the music and lyrics but" the black haired played with his fingers, a sign of nervousness on Maki's eyes.

"but you haven't done your portion , right?"

Nico nodded with a weird smile. She found this to be a really cute gesture, but she would never said that out loud. She wanted to get close to him, to know him better, to understand him. "d-do you want me to help y-you?" She didn't know where she got the courage to ask that but she did. The black haired looked at her full of surprise. "you would…?" he asked very carefully "I mean" he cleared his throat "of course you would! Who wouldn't want to help this good looking man!" he said full of pride. The red haired's expression showed disgust "forget it, I'm going to bed" she took a step forward towards the stairs but before she could disappear from his sight he grabbed her wrist making her stop. "wait...!" his crimson ruby eyes were pleading her to stay, she gulped and sighed in defeat.

"what do you need help with?"

"I need to compose the music but nothing has come to mind" the black haired admitted. "I see…I assume Eli-san wrote the lyrics?" she asked, the black haired nodded. "it's supposed to be a song that makes you think of Christmas, right?" he asked and the red haired nodded. "the lyrics aren't even Christmas related, here" he passed the laptop over to her showing her the lyrics on the white screen. "this is a love song!" the black haired said annoyed. Maki stopped looking at the black haired and paid close attention to the lyrics in front of her. _"snow halation"_

 _It's strange, this feeling in my chest now  
It's almost as though it came fluttering down from the sky  
The special color of this season fills me with excitement_

 _From the moment we met,  
The melody of my heart has been ringing with premonitions  
It can't be stopped, it won't be stopped - why?_

 _Ring out  
Shall I name this heartrending pain "Snow halation"?  
I can't wait for our feelings to resonate  
It's frustrating, but it's a pure-hearted devotion called love  
Even in this mild fever, I can't hesitate  
I'll accept the courage to dive in; it's about to start!_

Maki felt a sudden heat on her cheeks, for some reason this lyrics described how she felt right now. To be precise they couldn't be more on point. But strangely enough she felt a melody forming in her head. " piano…I need a piano…" Nico looked at her confused and just as he was about to say something the red haired went to the room where they had been a couple hours ago. She sat down on the white bench and shook her fingers as she prepared to play the melody on her head. She played from the D chord and kept playing the song in that key. The black haired noticed how good it was sounding and took out his cell phone and started recording. When she finished playing what she had in mind the black haired clapped and gave her thumbs up. The red haired blushed and slightly smiled. "I thin-" "wait here, I'll be back" the black haired cut her off and disappeared from the room.

She sat on the white bench dumbfounded. She waited around a minute until she heard the door opening again. The black haired was back but he wasn't alone, he had brought his guitar with him. He smiled and sat next to her "can you sing?" he asked randomly as he tuned his guitar. "I don't know…" he got close to her, making her blushed, and backed away again. " you look like someone who can sing." He said as he got into playing position. "Play it again, I'll follow along" the red haired nodded and started playing again. She noticed how in a few seconds he incorporated into the song and made it more fulfilling. If she hadn't learn piano she would've love to learn guitar. The sweet melody that came out the wooden instrument made her smile and without realizing she started to sing. " _It's strange, this feeling in my chest now, It's almost as though it came fluttering down from the sky"_ the black haired smiled and finished the sentence of that line " _The special color of this season fills me with excitement"_

They continued on playing and playing until the song sounded perfect. It was near 2 in the morning and the fatigue shown in their eyes could no longer be hidden. The red haired rested her head against the piano saying she could get up in a second and go to bed.

Nico had gone to the bathroom and when he came back he saw the red haired sleeping peacefully on top of the piano keys. _She looks cute like that_ he stood next to her for a few seconds observing her facial features and simply admiring her beauty. He unconsciously leaned close to her, closing the gap between his and her lips. They were only millimeters apart but he caught himself and leaned back. _What's wrong with me?!_ He shook his head trying to get rid of those thoughts. He sighed and looked back at the resting red haired.

"that looks really uncomfortable" He popped his head to the right and then to the left. He gathered strength and carefully separated the red haired from the white piano. He carried her bridal style to the second floor and to his room. He struggled to open the door without a sound but luckily enough he didn't wake anyone up, no, not even Maki who almost fell out of his arms. He sighed relieved and made his way to his bed. He cautiously place her on bed, and covered her with a blanket. "thank you" he whispered as he walked out.

9:30 am

The red haired groaned in bed. _Whose making this much noise?!_ She tried to cover her ears with the pillow but it was all useless. _Agh! I don't remember mama and papa being this loud in the mornings…_ the red haired sighed in defeat as she opened her eyes. _Huh? Where am i?_ she was still half asleep so maybe she was still imagining things. She tapped the night stand on her right looking for a bottle of water but found none. She groaned as she looked to her right only to find some guitar picks. _Guitar picks?_ She stretched her arms and widely opened her eyes. She looked around and started to remember. _This isn't my room!_ She got up and walked towards the door.

Slowly she opened it and peeked her head through it. The hall was empty. She walked towards the stairs and made her way down. The three younger ones were gathered around the big Christmas tree opening presents filled with excitement. A smile form on her lips.

"oh Maki-chan you're awake" The older woman, who was sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate, commented. The red haired nodded and sat on the closest couch. "Merry Christmas, Maki-chan!" the brown haired girl said as she went to hug the red haired. This one blushed and awkwardly returned the hug. "Me-merry Christmas" she smiled. She looked around the room trying to find sign of the black haired but nothing, he wasn't there. The oldest woman noticed and smiled. "Nico-kun went out early this morning, he should be back in a bit" The red haired blushed, was she that obvious?

"here, santa brought Maki-san a present" the oldest of the three said as she placed a small red box on the red haired's hands. Maki snapped back from her thoughts and looked at her perplexed "t-thank you" she smiled. It hasn't been long since she discovered through Rin's jokes that Santa didn't exist and so she knew that someone in that room must've bought this present for her. _They didn't know I was gonna come so who was it…_ "open it, nee-san" the youngest said with curiosity on his eyes. The three of them gathered around her and waited for her to open it. She felt pressure from the three but didn't hesitate to open it. Her eyes widened _this is really pretty…_ "what is it, what is it?" the brown haired said with excitement as she jumped in place. "Cocoa, calm down" the mother scolded the latter. She nodded and stayed in place. The red haired took out of the box a silver necklace with the treble key next to heart and the letters M.N. engraved to it. "woah it's really cool!" the brown haired said as she got a closer look. "it's really pretty, Maki-chan" the oldest and the mother commented at the same time. "cool" the youngest said with a cheeky smile.

"I'm back" Nico said as he took of his coat "sorry for the intrusion" a tall blond haired said as he made his way through the door. " Eli nii-chan" the brown haired said with excitement as she ran towards him. The blond one lift her up and place her down to hug her. "Cocoa-chan" he smiled. " , Merry-christmas" he bowed to the oldest woman, "merry Christmas, Eli-kun"

"Cocoro, Cotaro, merry Christmas" he walked over to them and hugged them. The red haired observe the scene without saying a word. Would it be appropriate for her to say something? She wasn't sure.

"oh…!" at last he saw her. "Merry Christmas, Maki-san" he gave a small bow and smile. "merry Christmas, Eli-san" she said back.

The blond noticed the box Maki was holding and gave Nico a sign with his eyes pointing to it, the black haired blushed and told him with his head to stop. Eli smirked. "oh, I see Santa got you a present" he said as he took a seat next to Mrs. Yazawa. "oh...yeah" the red haired replied. The blond exchanged looks with Mrs. Yazawa and the latter one nodded. "Nico-kun, wouldn't you be a gentleman and help Maki put it on" "ueeh?!" the red haired surprised. The black haired looked at him with a death glare, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Why yes, of course" he walked over to Maki "M-may I?" the red haired looked up and saw Nico's blushing face. She internally smile and nodded.

He took the necklace from Maki's hands and asked her to hold her hair. This one obeyed and the black haired carefully put the necklace on her. "t-there" he grabbed her hair and accommodated for her. He walked to the front to see a better view and smiled "it looks great"

Neither the red haired or black haired noticed but Eli had fist bump Mrs. Yazawa.

The day had gone just fine. Eli had stayed for most of the day and left two hours before the live started. Maki got a chance to know him better and found out that Eli and Nico have been friends since very young and that the latter one dance ballet and play the double bass. She also learnt a few embarrassing stories about Nico. And that he was the only one who knew that Nico and Maki were engaged.

Maki was happy. This was probably one of the best Christmas she's had yet. Being the only child had its ups and downs, sometimes she wished she had siblings to play along with but spending the day with the Yazawa's gave her a little taste of what having a big family is like. She wondered if all her Christmas from now on would be like that if she married the black haired.

Waking up to the laugh of happy kids opening their presents, a delicious breakfast prepared by the hands of the handsome black haired, watching movies under a kotatsu and then getting up to eat lunch prepared by the same dark haired. If she married him Christmas from now on would be like that, right?

"We'll be leaving now" Mrs. Yazawa informed bringing Maki back to reality. Three of her kids followed behind her. "bye Maki-san/ Bye nee-chan/ bye bye" the three said goodbye in unison as they went out the front door. "Nico, take care of Maki-chan" the black haired nodded "yes mama" his mother smiled. "it was really nice meeting you, I hope you'll come around more often" the older woman said and with that she left the house.

An awkward silence filled the air. Only Maki and Nico remained in the house. Just them alone.

"shouldn't you have gone too?" Maki asked

"hmm? Oh… nah" the black haired replied as he sat on under the kotatsu. "but isn't he your grandfather too?" Nico grabbed the control remote and turned on the tv "Muse has a live today and no way I would miss it, besides I saw him this morning" Maki didn't understand but decided not to pursuit the topic.

They watched some old tv show without either of them saying a word, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was actually really relaxing, and Maki liked it.

"We should be getting ready" the black haired said as he got up. "eh?" the red haired asked confused "I'm gonna take a shower, you should choose what you want to wear" he started to head to the stairs but the voice of the red haired stopped him. "but I don't have any clothes besides I brought yesterday"

"I…I bought you some clothes, I didn't know your size so I guessed…I also don't know what you like so I bought quite a few…anyways! There on the bed. I'm gonna take my stuff and shower and change in mom's room" Maki wasn't sure of what to say, she was thankful but she also didn't expect for him to go as far as buying her clothes. She saw the small blush on his face and smiled. The black haired walked up the stairs and soon after the red haired followed.

Just like he said there was a quite a few bags of clothing on top of bed. She opened one of the bags but found nothing but underwear. _Pervert!_ She put the bag down angrily and a note fell out of the bag, she picked it up and read what it said _Maki-san, you should've seen the face Nico did when I told him to buy your underwear! Ahhahahaha, anyways, I was the one who told him so don't think he's a pervert. He's not…or at least not yet :p . –Eli_ she sighed and shook her head.

After a few minutes of observing all the clothes the black haired bough she decided to wear a white skirt with a purple dress shirt. She heard the sound of the shower of the other room stopping and took it as a sign that Nico was done. She jumped in the shower and after a couple of minutes she was done. She put on her clothes and fixed her hair. She wanted to apply makeup but there was none in Nico's room.

She walked out of the room and walked towards the room Nico was in. He was fixing his bowtie as he looked on the mirror. He felt a gaze on him and turned to the door. "oh…" he blushed "you look pretty…" he whispered the last part but Maki was still able to hear it. "could I borrow your mother's make up?" Nico nodded and indicated to come in the room.

Nico was wearing white dress pants with a pink dress shirt and a red bow tie. Somehow for both of them to be getting ready in front of the same mirror made them look like married couple getting ready to go to an event together. _This is how mama and papa look when they get ready to go out_ Maki thought and blushed. A few minutes passed and Nico sat on the bed. He was captivated by the red haired's beauty. Maki noticed the eyes on her and blushed. "I'm ready" she said but there was no response. "Yazawa…san?" "eh?!" Nico snapped back to reality and shook his head, Maki chuckled. "I said I'm ready" she repeated. "oh yeah, we don't wanna be late" he grabbed his coat and they both made their way down stairs. He did a last minute check to make sure he had everything and nodded. "Ok!" he smiled and opened the door for her.

They didn't talk much on the way over to the club, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. They were slowly getting used to each other.

A good 30 mins passed and they arrived. Nico was the first one to get out, he opened the door for her and he then grabbed his guitar from the trunk. "shall we go?" he asked with a cheeky smile, making Maki blush.

"oh you're here, nya!" Rin said as he ran over to Nico "oh Maki-chan, you came too!" the orange haired said happily as he hugged Nico and Maki at the same time. "Rin…" the black haired trying break Rin's hug. "oh Nico-kun help me set this up" a voice that came from behind the orange drums said. Nico sighed and made his way over.

"Maki-chan" the red haired turned around and saw her brown haired friend sitting on a table. "Hanayo" she smiled. "I see you came with Nico-kun" the brown haired said while giggling. Maki blushed "i-it's not like that!" she argued. "it's ok Maki-chan, I won't tell anyone" the brown haired winked.

An hour passed by and the club was opened. People started to come in and took seats by the bar area and filling up the tables that were there. "they all look handsome, don't you think?" Maki and Hanayo turned around and found a purpled haired girl and ash haired girl standing behind them. "Nozomi-chan, Kotori-chan" Hanayo greeted and they took seats on the same table. "oh a new face" the purple haired said looking at Maki. "I'm Maki, Nishikino Maki" the red haired bowed awkwardly and the two girls giggled. "I'm Kotori Minami, nice to meet you" she smiled. "I'm Nozomi Toujo, pleasure to meet you Maki-chan" the red haired awkwardly smiled and nodded.

"Maki, come on" the red haired turned around and saw the blond with Nico by his side. "eh?" she asked confused. "you're gonna play with us, right? I got the guys to move the grand piano over so you could play with us" the blond said smiling. "ueeeh?!"


	6. Merry Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own love live!

"P-play? But I didn't practice with you guys!" Maki looked really shocked "actually, when did you guys even have time to practice the song? I mean…this is all too sudden I-"

"If you don't want to, then don't" the black haired said as he turned around "I told you it was a waste of time." Nico walked away before anyone could say anything.

"You know" Eli got close to Maki's ear "he's not very honest, but I'm sure he would also like for you to play with us… and I heard the song with the piano and found it amazing. I know we haven't had a proper rehearsal but have a little faith in us." He took a step away and looked at her "We'll follow your lead" he outstretched his hand.

Maki looked to the stage and saw the dark haired tuning his guitar; she sighed and took Eli's hand.

….

She looked at the crowd and then back to the piano. She avoided looking at the black hair as she felt it would only make her more nervous than she already was. "Whenever you're ready" the blond said with a warm smile.

Maki closed her eyes and took a deep breath _here we go, I guess_

…..

"Maki-chan, nya! That was amazing!" the ginger haired said as he clung onto her. "Rin, get off me" She responded shrugging her shoulders. "But he's right you know, it was actually kind of magical!" Honoka complimented. Maki could feel her blushing. "t-thanks"

"it was great! Right, Nico?" the blond asked. Nico saw her and stared at her for a little bit. Maki could only feel her face blushing harder. He smiled and walked away. _What the hell! Is he really not gonna say anything?! Not like I want him to or anything…_

Maki returned to the table, the guys had to put talk to the owner about some things, so it was her alone with the other girls.

"so Maki-chan…"Kotori spoke "I can call you Maki, right?" The red haired nodded

"do you like Nico-kun?" Kotori asked, making Maki surprised.

Nozomi almost spit her tea, no doubt she noticed something between those two as well, but didn't expect Kotori to be so blunt about it on the first time. Regardless, she paid close attention to their conversation.

"w-what makes you say that?" she responded trying not to sound nervous but failed.

" so you do" Kotori smiled

" I never said I did!" Maki complained.

"so you don't?" now Nozomi asked, making the poor red haired more nervous.

 _Am I acting weird…? Why did they ask me this… they don't even know me…_ Maki didn't know what to say… She had only just met them and they were already asking this type of question, was she easy to read …?

"What makes you say that, Kotori-chan" Hanayo asked coming to Maki's aid.

Maki sighed relived; the attention went to her friend for a split of second taking eyes off of her.

"it just seemed that your eyes followed him, I was just really guessing here. Hehe, I didn't actually think you would react that way, sorry."

 _She didn't know…so I am easy to read…!_

"N-no, actually we just met" the red haired responded.

"oh, really? Where did you guys meet? Kotori asked curiously

 _Shit…what should I say… -oh you know, we kinda got engaged the other day- yeah, right… just say something_

"My…father knows his grandfather -"

"wait" Kotori interrupted

"his grandfather?" she asked in disbelief

"yeah…" _is that so weird?_ Maki thought

Kotori and Nozomi looked at each other surprised. They looked at the red haired with eyes full of questions.

"Maki-chan, do you know about-"

"Nozomi, do you wanna dance?" Eli said interrupting the purpled haired. "oh, am I interrupting something?" the blond asked, the girls looked a bit tense. "not at all" Nozomi responded, she looked up and smiled. "Sure, Eli chi. I would love to dance" _I wonder if Nishikino –san knows…no there's no way, she said they just met…_ Nozomi thought as she walked next to Eli to the dance floor.

"Kotori-chan, did you see us? Did you like it?!" Honoka asked enthusiastic as he sat next to her. "hehe, I really enjoyed it, Honoka-kun"

"do you mean it?! We didn't really practice, so it was really magical that we pulled it off!"

"I mean it, you guys were great." She smiled.

Honoka hugged her tightly "yay! I'm so glad" he kissed her cheek making her blush a bit.

"a-are you guys together…?" Maki asked curiously.

"eh? What do you mean ?" Honoka responded confused.

" I think she's asking if you're my boyfriend, Honoka-kun. " Kotori responded smiling.

"oh… am I ?" Honoka responded playfully

Maki just watched confused.

"we're not dating but we get asked quite often."

"sorry, it's just… you guys look like you have a close relationship"

"don't we?" Honoka said as he snuggled Kotori

"we're just really good childhood friends." Kotori said

"she's right" Honoka added. "I don't think I could ever date someone who's like a sister to me"

"yeah…" Kotori replied

 _She sounds troubled… but that's none of my business… I should stop asking questions._

"I see" Maki said.

 _I wonder where Yazawa-san is…_

"Where's Nico-kun?" Kotori asked, gaining Maki's attention

"oh, he said something about taking some fresh air. He should be back in a sec… more importantly have you guys eaten?! I'm starving!"

Kotori chuckled "should we order something?"

 _Maybe I should check on him…_

….

On the dance floor

"what did you think of the song, Nozomi?"

"hmm, it was kind of cheesy but I liked it, did Eli chi write the lyrics for this song too?"

Eli usually writes the lyrics to the most romantic/ cheesy songs that the group sings.

"yes, I'm glad you liked it" he said as a smile form on his face _that song was actually dedicated to you…_

"Were you thinking on someone when you wrote it?" she asked curiously

 _Eh?! Bulls eyes!_ Eli blushed and looked away. "…"

"Maybe not?" she asked

 _What should I do …?_

"if you don't want to tell me it's fine" She smiled, he felt like a such a coward. Here was his chance to finally the make the move he's been waiting to make since high school yet he couldn't respond a simple question.

 _What the hell dude! This could finally be your chance to confess to her!_ The blond thought to himself making funny faces. _Come on, just answer the question… as calm as possible…_ he took a deep breath

"a-actually..." he stuttered "there was someone on my mind when I wrote it…"

Nozomi looked at him with expectation. She knew there was someone, there had got to be! I mean how else would Eli manage to write all the other cheesy songs the group had sang before?

"oh! Tell me, tell me!" she shrugged him with a wide smile.

"y-yeah, well she's someone I've known for a quite a long time now and someone who's very close to me…" _that should be pretty straightforward, right?!_

He tried to sound as calm as possible but in reality he was nerve wreck inside. Still, he looked at Nozomi and saw how she was trying to figure out who this person could be

"hmm" She said holding her chin, "if it's someone you've known for a long time and are very close to, then..." she paused. Eli waited, watching full of expectations. "It means I know her too, right?"

"Yes!" Eli said too quickly, actually too quickly. He blushed even harder. "Sorry…" he looked away. Nozomi chuckled.

He gained courage and took a deep breath. "Nozomi" he said firmly. Nozomi looked at him straight in the yes.

"a-actually" he's courage went away "i-it's yo- …"

"Ayase-san!" some girl said approaching the two

 _Seriously, why of all times did I have to get interrupted right now?!_

"Yes..?" he turned to see two girls. One with long brown hair, and another with short blonde hair.

"Could we have a picture with you?" the brunette asked.

"Me? But I-" Eli replied in shocked a _picture?_

"oooh~ Elichi has fans" Nozomi said teasing

 _Fans? I have fans?!_

"You sounded really cool today. Please, could we have a picture taken with you?" the blonde girl said pouting

"Come on, Eli-chi. you should treat your fans well" Nozomi said as she took the camera from the blonde's hand.

The two of them smiled widely and immediately posed next to the blond. The brunette wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him close to her, while the blond simply tiptoe to try to be close to his height. Eli found it a bit odd but didn't mind it.

"Here, say cheese"

"Cheese!" the two said happily. As the light flashed in their eyes, the blonde quickly kissed Eli on the cheek leaving him speechless "ch-eese" the blond said half nervous, half awkward.

 _Did she just kiss me?!_

 _Did she really kiss him…? Oh Eli chi you're so funny when you're flustered_

"Thank you, Ayase-san, please continue to make music in the future" the two girls said as they walked away.

"woah, you're quite popular aren't you Eli-chi?" Nozomi said teasing.

"nng"

"hahaha, come on. Anyways, be careful not to make the girl you like jealous"

 _Nozomi, you're the one I like_

"I'll be back, I have to use the restroom" the purple haired said. Eli nodded and she walked away.

The blond took a deep breath and walked towards the outside patio. He outstretched his arms.

"how did it go?"

Eli got startled and jumped a little. He turned to his right side and saw Nico holding a cup of what it smelled like hot chocolate. "Oh…! my goodness… Nico, when did you even get here?" he asked a little shaken off, from the scare of before.

"hmm?"Nico looked confused "I've been here"

"I-"

Before Eli could respond to that, Nico interrupted him.

"Never mind that, how did it go with Nozomi? Did you tell her?"

Eli sighed

"so not well at all, I assume?" Nico sat on a bench that was close to them.

"we got interrupted" the blond said as he followed his friend to the bench.

"elaborate" Nico said as he took a sip from his cup "please"

"it was going well, she asked me if I had someone in mind when writing the song. I said yes."

Nico nodded indicating that he was following.

"so, then she asked who it was and when I was going to tell her, these random girls came over saying they wanted to take a photograph...agh! I was so close!" he said letting out a grunt of frustration.

"oh, so our dear Eli has fans" Nico joked.

"Nico" Eli glared.

"aww, c'mon. Yes, it sucks they ruined the moment. But, hey at least we know we're getting more popular." Nico said trying to bring up the mood.

Eli had a serious look. "Nico…" he sighed " are you seriously still trying to keep chasing after that dream?"

Nico didn't respond. Instead he took a sip from his cup.

"Nico…!"

"Eli… I know you don't have to tell me. I was just joking…" he sighed. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Eli felt a bit bad. He remembered what this band really meant for Nico.

Nico got up. "About Nozomi… don't worry. I'm sure there'll be another opportunity" he took a few steps and look up to the sky.

"you always say that!" Eli said half annoyed.

"well, shit , Eli what should I say then?" Nico laughed. He took a deep breath and walked back to where the blond was. It took half of his strength, but he pulled up the blond by the collar, his cheerful face turned in to a dark serious one.

"get your shit together Ayase Eli and please for goodness sake, confess to Nozomi!"

Eli gulped. When Nico got serious it was kinda scary.

"is that better?" Nico smiled and let go of Eli's collar.

Eli sighed annoyed. "it's cold, let's go back in" He walked away back to the club.

Nico remained outside. And continue gazing at the sky.

 _But seriously Eli, it's been more than 4 years. Just freaking do it._

Before he got back in, he raised his cup and took a sip. "Merry Christmas, dad" he said almost in a whisper.

In a far corner, hidden in the dark, there was a redheaded who had heard the whole conversation.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Yazawa." She whispered as she looked at Nico.

A. A.N

So…it's been long ^^;

Sorry for the wait. To be honest I was planning to continue this. I kinda got caught up with school and work and then my inspiration to write just vanished. Anyways, since some of you messaged me I decided to continue it. I will probably not write very often, but I will try my best to keep it within months and not years. Really, really sorry.

Well, that's all I got to say. Sorry, for the short chapter.


	7. VI Night drive

I don't own Love Live!

...

"Hey, finally found you"

Maki was sitting outside the club, she was just staring aimlessly at the snowy sky.

"Aren't you cold? It's snowing..." Nico said shivering,

"I just…" she fidget, it's been an hr since she heard that conversation. She didn't feel like going back to the table and so she decided to stay outside.

"Yeah...?" he sat beside her "hey c'mon you'll get sick, here" he took off his coat and gave it to her. Maki blushed.

"Do you wanna leave now? I'm kinda tired" Nico rubbed his hands together trying to create heat. "Really, how long were you outside? It's freaking cold…!" he shivered.

Maki chuckled.

"If you're so cold then just keep your coat" she tried to give it back but he stopped her. "Nah, I don't want you to get sick"

" I'm fine..!" she fought back.

"Yeah, and tomorrow you'll wake up with a cold, so nope, just keep it." he rubbed his hands again. Really he got easily.

She didn't try to argue.

"So wanna head back...?" he asked again.

"Sure…"

….

"Was it ok…?" she asked randomly, Nico looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"To just leave like that...was it ok?" she asked cautiously.

None of them had said goodbye to their friends and just left without saying a word.

"Oh yeah...don't worry" he smiled and kept driving.

Maki grabbed a strand of her red hair and started twirling it, Nico noticed. "What's wrong?"

"Eh? no-nothing…" she said not sounding convincing at all.

"Just spill it out"

"Won't they get suspicious? I mean, i thought you didn't want anyone to know we're engaged…" she kept on twirling her hair.

"Hmmm" Nico grabbed his chin, " I said that if you didn't want to marry me I would help you get out this…"

"isn't it the same thing?" she looked at him.

Nico took a quick glance and grinned "is it?"

 _Gods…. why is his smile so cute …_ she sighed.

"Do your friends know we're engaged?" he asked curiously

She shook her head "only Hanayo"

"Hmm Hanayo-Chan…won't she tell Rin?"

"Eh…?!" her eyes widened at the realization.

"Kidding hahaha, she's actually really good at keeping secrets" he smiled

 _Wait what_

"What..what makes you say that?" she asked sounding a bit irritated.

He rubbed his chin "that's something between her and me"

She pouted.

 _I'm gonna find out...i definitely will_

"She told me about how you rescued her from some thugs …"

He took a quick look "yeah…"

He cleared his throat. " I don't think I've asked you this yet…"

She looked at him "what-"

"How do you feel about this whole engagement thing?" he finished interrupting her.

 _How do I feel…_

"do you even find me attractive? I mean… do you see your life with me?"

"I…" she stared at him. Looked closely at his face, the silky, dark haired that was well put together, those crimson eyes that were so mysterious to her, his fair skin, his round pink lips. He's definitely attractive and appealing to her eyes.

"I dont know...I don't know yet. You're so strange … I don't know much about you… but " she stopped

"But…?"

" in the short time we've spent together…"

"Yeah…?"

" it's been interesting…" she admitted.

He smiled.

"Hey…" he looked at her, "can i ask you something?" she asked.

He nodded.

"How come your mother didn't go to the engagement meeting… she didn't really seem to know much about it..."

He sighed.

"My grandfather decided this with your parents…mom, she just.. She asked me if I was ok with, which I mean…" he bit his lip.

"Yeah?"

"I am, I just.." he stopped again.

"Don't want to marry me…?" she asked disappointed.

"It's not that...! I want to marry someone that wants to marry me, I don't like things to be forced...that's all" he took a quick glance at her.

"Then why did you agree to this?" she twirled her hair again.

"If not me then…"

"Then...?" she asked

"then one of my siblings would've been forced to do it, and I definitely don't want that. I will protect them" he tighten his grip on the wheel.

"Your mom doesn't seem like-"

"She wouldn't do it, but that old man would...and he's someone I…" he said furiously, he sighed. He was getting to him and he wasn't even present.

"You don't like him, do you...?"

He shook his head.

"You know...let's keep this between us, yeah?" he loosen his grip and massaged his temple.

She nodded.

"Did something happen that makes you dislike him? He's a great doctor and seems like a good person"

He laughed sarcastically, "yeah, right...and I'm the king of Rome..."

There was an awkward silence between them.

 _So I take it something did happen...I don't think he will tell me thou...still, I'm happy I got to know him a little bit better._

…..

The ride back home wasn't long but the red haired managed to fall asleep.

"I guess she was tired…" the black haired said as he parked the car.

He was gonna bring the girl back home with him, but he received a message from telling him that they had come home earlier than expected and that they would like to see their daughter.

He undid his seatbelt and walked to the passenger seat. He did the same with hers and carried her bridal style to the door of the Nishikino manor.

He managed to knocked the door, the door was open by . She smiled widely at the image in front of her. "I guess she was really tired" he whispered.

She nodded.

"Where should I-"

"Follow me" the older woman said closing the door behind them and walking up the stairs to Maki's room.

He followed without saying a word.

She opened the door for him, he entered and placed the red haired on the bed. He grabbed a blanket a tucked her in.

…..

"Thanks for taking care of our Maki-chan" the older woman said.

"Of course" he smiled.

"I was actually surprised that your mother told us she was at your house, but then I remember how Mei's always been and it seemed like something she would do" she smiled.

He nodded. He knew his parents were friends with the Nishikino and actually vaguely remembered about a few encounters with them when he was younger. That was probably why he didn't oppose so much to the engagement with their daughter, still he didn't want to force her to be with him.

"I should get going" he bowed.

"Nico" he turned to his side and saw the older dr with a big smile.

"Thanks for not letting Maki be alone …" he walked close to him " I actually hate leaving her during these dates, but I couldn't control the situation this time…"

Nico just looked at him.

"I'm glad to see you guys are getting along, it may seem like we don't care but we know we made a good choice with this... You're a good guy, like your dad" the Dr. smiled

Nico didn't know how to react, his dad was the best man he ever met and someone was comparing him to him, this was probably one of the best things to happen to him.

The Dr offered his hand to Nico, the black haired look at it confused. "Come on, son. Won't you shake the hand of your future father-in-law?"

Nico smiled and shook his hand.

"Thank you…"

….

A.N

Hey guys...(￢0￢) sorry I took long to update, but at least it hasnt been a year lol. Anyways, I told myself I would finish all the stories I've started this year, let's hope I stay true to my word.

I don't have much to say, except I'm sorry again, please find it in your heart to forgive me

(_ _(_ _(_ _)_ _)_ _)

Hasta luego.


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